C.M.R. 18, 553, ch. 50, pt. IV

Current through 2024-51, December 18, 2024

Part IV - GAME DESCRIPTION AND CHARACTERISTICS

4.0Game Designation. For purposes of identification, the Game shall have a designated game number in the Gaming System.

4.1Game Design. The Game is a double matrix-style game, drawn daily Sunday through Saturday, in which Players select five (5) unique numbers in the Matrix 1 from one (1) to forty-eight (48) inclusive PLUS one (1) Lucky Ball number in the Matrix 2 from one (1) to eighteen (18) inclusive. The additional number may be the same as one of the first five numbers selected by the Player.

4.2Game Purchases. Game Tickets must be purchased from a Terminal operated by a licensed Sales Retailer, a Player Activated Terminal (if available) by using a touch screen or by inserting a Selection Slip, a lottery subscription system (if available), or other means as approved by a Party Lottery.

4.3Ticket Format. Game Tickets shall include, but not be limited to, the Player's number selections, Game logo or Game name, ticket cost, terminal number, barcode, quick pick (if selected), replay (if selected), serial number and Drawing date. Advance Action tickets shall visibly show the beginning and ending Drawing dates. Game Tickets may also include the selling date, time stamp and any information required by a Party Lottery's state laws pertaining to the validation of Game Tickets.

4.4Ticket Price

4.4.1Uniform Price .Each Game Ticket shall be sold at retail for the price set in these Game Rules.

4.4.2Taxes. The Game Ticket price shall include all the applicable taxes which a Party Lottery may be required to collect.

4.4.3Cost Per Play. Game Tickets may be purchased for two dollars ($2.00) per Play, or multiples thereof, in accordance with these Game Rules. The Player receives one (1) Play for each two dollar ($2.00) Wager.

4.4.4Promotions. Promotions shall mean marketing or advertising intended to increase sales of the Game Tickets (excluding Subscription Tickets or Advance Action) through a discount or rebate. A Party Lottery may offer Game Tickets through promotions without approval of the other Party Lotteries, for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days in any six (6)month period as long as advance notification of five (5) days is provided to all Party Lotteries of the terms and dates of the promotional offering.

4.4.5Tickets as Prizes. A Party Lottery may offer Game Tickets as a prize in any other lottery game after advising all Party Lotteries of the terms and dates of such action.

4.4.6Contribution to Prize Pool. The Party Lottery may offer Game Tickets as a prize or as part of an authorized promotion provided that all such Game Ticket sales are assessed and reported to the prize pool at the full gross sales amount.

4.5Play Restrictions and Play Styles

4.5.1Ticket Sales to Minors Prohibited. Game Tickets may not be sold to or purchased by minors under the age of 18 years.

4.5.2Ticket Cashing by Minors. Subject to the state laws of each Party Lottery, Game Tickets may not be cashed or redeemed by Minors under the age of eighteen (18) years.

4.5.3Ineligible Players. Game Tickets shall not be purchased, and a prize won by any such Game Ticket or share, either in whole or in part, shall not be paid to:

4.5.3.1 A Party Lottery officer, Director, board member or commissioner.

4.5.3.2 A contractor or consultant under agreement with any Party Lottery to perform audit and security procedures.

4.5.3.3 An employee of the independent certified public accounting firm undercontract with any New England Lottery to oversee Game Drawings.

4.5.3.4 An employee of the Party Lottery's Gaming System vendor.

4.5.3.5 An employee of the Party Lottery's advertising or public relations provider.

4.5.3.6 An employee of the Party Lottery's instant ticket print vendors.

4.5.3.7 An immediate family member (parent, stepparent, child, stepchild, spouse, sibling or person engaged in a domestic partnership or civil union) of an individual described in this section residing as a member of the same household in the principle place of residence of any such person.

4.5.3.8 Any of the persons set forth in 8 M.R.S.A. Section381.

4.6Ticket Cancellations Prohibited. A Game Ticket may not be cancelled or voided by returning the Game Ticket to the Sales Retailer or to a Party Lottery. A Game Ticket accepted by the Sales Retailer as a returned ticket and that cannot be resold shall be deemed as owned by the bearer thereof. This prohibition also applies to a Game Ticket that may be printed in error by the Sales Retailer. Subject to the state laws of each Party Lottery, no Game Ticket, or physical portion there of, which may be used to claim a prize, shall be returned to any Party Lottery for credit.

4.7Game Sell-Out Prohibited. A Party Lottery shall not directly and knowingly sell a Game Ticket or combination of Game Tickets to any natural person or legal entity that would guarantee such Purchaser a Top Prize or second prize win.

4.8Claims. A Game Ticket, subject to the validation requirements of the Party Lotteries as detailed in Section 4.22 of these rules, shall be the only proof of a Game Play (or plays) and the submission of a winning Game Ticket to a Party Lottery or its Sales Retailer shall be the sole method of claiming a prize or prizes. A Play Slip has no pecuniary or prize value and shall not constitute evidence of Game Ticket purchase or of numbers selected. Under no circumstances will a claim be paid for a Top Prize or a second prize without a winning Game Ticket. Subject to the state laws of each Party Lottery, lost or missing Game Tickets may not be honored or processed for payment or replacement.

4.9Use of Play Slips. Players may submit a completed Play Slip to any licensed Sales Retailer to have a Game Ticket issued. Play slips shall be available at no cost to the Purchaser and shall have no pecuniary or prize value, or constitute evidence of purchase or number selections. The use of facsimiles of Play Slips, copies of Play Slips, or other materials that are inserted into the Terminal's Play Slip reader that are not printed or approved by the Party Lottery are not permitted. Sales Retailers shall not permit any device to be connected to a Terminal to enter Plays, except as approved by its Party Lottery.

4.10Manual Entry. Players may convey their number selections to any licensed Sales Retailer to obtain a Game Ticket. Such number selections shall be manually enteredin to the Terminal by the licensed Sales Retailer.

4.11Quick Pick. Players may either request a Quick Pick Game Ticket from a licensed Sales Retailer or may select the Quick Pick option on the Play Slip and submit the completed Play Slip to any licensed Sales Retailer. Quick Pick shall be differentiated from Customer Select in that Quick Pick shall refer to the random selection of numbers made by the Gaming System rather than by the Player.

4.12Customer Select. Players may select their own numbers by completing a Play Slip or by conveying their number selections directly to any licensed Sales Retailer. Customer Select shall be differentiated from Quick Pick in that Customer Select shall refer to number selections made by the Player rather than the Gaming System.

4.13Replay Feature. If available, Players may utilize the barcodes of already-purchased Game Tickets to duplicate another Game Ticket of the same price and with the same number selections and options. To replay, Players may either make the request of a licensed Sales Retailer or may scan the barcode directly into a Player Activated or Self-Service Terminal, if authorized.

4.14Advance Action or Multi-Draw. Game Tickets may be purchased for future Drawings, as available in a Party Lottery jurisdiction.

4.15Subscriptions or Season Tickets. Game Tickets may be purchased by subscription, if authorized by a Party Lottery jurisdiction.

4.16Limited to Highest Prize Won. In connection with the winning numbers drawn, the holder of a winning Game Ticket may win only one (1) prize per play, board or panel, and shall be entitled only to the prize won by those numbers in the highest matching prize category.

4.17Prize Claim Period. All prize claims including the top prize shall be made within one (1) year after the Drawing date.

4.18Player Responsibility. It shall be the Player's sole responsibility to verify the accuracy of the Game Play (or Plays) and the other data printed on the Game Ticket. The placing of Wagers is done at the Player's own risk through the Sales Agent.

4.19Prize Payments. A Party Lottery may not pay prizes that are less than or more than the prize amounts established in accordance with these rules. The prize won cannot be indirectly increased by promotions or Sales Agent activity.

4.20Group Win of Top Prize or Second Prize. If more than one (1) natural person claims a single Top Prize or second prize Game Ticket, the claim shall only be paid in a single Lump Sum Cash Payment. No Annuitized payment option shall be available.

4.21Expired Unclaimed Prizes. Prizes which are unclaimed for a period of one (1) year after the Drawing date on the Game Ticket revert to the expired unclaimed prize pool to be distributed to players in the form of special promotions or Drawings.

4.22Ticket Validation

4.22.1General Requirements for Validation. To be a valid ticket and eligible to receive a prize, a ticket shall satisfy all the requirements established by the Party Lotteries for validation of winning tickets sold through its Gaming System as set forth in Section 4.22 of these rules and any other validation requirements adopted by the New England Lotteries.

4.22.2Specific Requirements for Validation of Tickets Sold in Maine. To be a valid ticket and eligible to receive a prize, all the following requirements must be satisfied:

4.22.2.1 The ticket must have been issued by the Lottery through a licensed agent, via a terminal, in an authorized manner. The ticket must be intact and must not be mutilated, altered, reconstructed, or tampered with in any manner.

4.22.2.2 The ticket date must have been recorded in the Lottery's central computer system at least sixty (60) minutes prior to the Drawing; even if it appears that a bet is accepted (by virtue of a printed ticket), any bet placed other than at least sixty (60) minutes prior to the Drawing (regardless of when the Drawing is held) is void.

4.22.2.3 The information appearing on the ticket must correspond precisely with the party Lottery's computer record.

4.22.2.4 The ticket validation number must appear in its entirety, and correspond, using a computer validation file, to the winning gameplay or plays printed on the ticket. The ticket stock sequential number on the back of the ticket must correspond to the Lottery's inventory records.

4.22.2.5 The ticket must not be defectively printed, fuzzy, produced in error, counterfeit in whole or in part, altered, unreadable, reconstructed, tampered with in any manner, stolen, blank or partially blank, misregistered, or defective.

4.22.2.6 All information appearing on an apparent winning ticket must correspond to the Lottery's records of winning tickets, and another ticket with identical data shall not have been paid.

4.22.2.7 The ticket must be intact, fully legible, complete and not miscut, correspond to the data on file at the Lottery in every respect.

4.22.2.8 The ticket must pass all other security criteria determined by the Maine Lottery and the Party Lotteries.

4.22.2.9 The ticket must be validated in accordance with the provisions of these rules relating to the procedures for claiming prizes and for the payment thereof.

4.22.2.10 An apparent winning ticket shall be void unless the ticket paper stockroll which was in use at the time of the bet by, and validly issued to, the Sales Agent from whom the ticket was purchased.

4.22.2.11 In the event that a ticket fails to pass all the criteria set forth in Section 4.22 of these rule, the ticket shall be deemed void and ineligible for any prize and shall not be paid. In the event of a dispute or other instance of doubt, the decision of the Director shall be final and binding. If the Director determines that the ticket is not eligible to receive a prize, then the Director may, at the Director's option, replace an invalid, defective or otherwise erroneous ticket with a ticket of equivalent sales price from any current lottery game. Replacement of the ticket shall be the bearer or claimant's sole and exclusive remedy.

C.M.R. 18, 553, ch. 50, pt. IV